Newly Pro, and Adding Experience to Mets’ System

SAN FRANCISCO — The Mets have tried to restock their organization with young, talented positions players, using their first-round picks from 2011 to 2013 on the high school prospects Brandon Nimmo, Gavin Cecchini and Dominic Smith. None have reached Class AA yet.

On Thursday, the Mets tried a slightly different approach when, with the 10th pick in Major League Baseball’s amateur draft, they selected Michael Conforto, a polished outfielder from Oregon State. He was, in comparison, a proven product.

Conforto was one of five finalists for the Dick Howser Trophy, given annually to the nation’s top collegiate player, and he twice won the Pacific-12 Player of the Year award. At 6 feet 2 inches and 217 pounds, he appears to be a ready-made mature hitter. In 59 games this season, he batted .345, with seven home runs and 56 runs batted in. He also set a single-season team record by drawing 55 walks.

“It’s a real fit for what we like in a hitter — the patience, the discipline,” Tommy Tanous, the Mets’ director of amateur scouting, said.

Tanous added: “He’s got many strengths. One of the strengths is the patience, but he also has power. He is going to make a pitcher come in with a pitch that the pitcher doesn’t want to come in with. And then he’s really going to unleash on the ball.”

Conforto comes from an athletic family. His father, Mike, was a linebacker at Penn State, and his mother, Tracie Ruiz-Conforto, won two gold medals in synchronized swimming at the 1984 Olympics.

Paul DePodesta, the Mets’ vice president for player development and amateur scouting, indicated that the Mets had not specifically set their sights on a college player with their top pick. Conforto was widely considered among the top players available.

The Mets, of course, are not giving up on their three previous picks, either. Nimmo, 21, who was drafted in 2011, has found success at Class A Port Saint Lucie, where he was batting .325 with 4 home runs, 24 runs batted in, 9 stolen bases and a .446 on-base percentage through 57 games.

Conforto, though, is 26 days older than Nimmo and seems to have a chance to move through the Mets’ system quicker.

“We’ll see how it goes,” DePodesta said, adding, “But we do think he’s an advanced hitter and certainly has a chance to move quicker than the high school players that we have taken the last few years.”

SYNDERGAARD HURT As the ball trickled away from his catcher Thursday night, Noah Syndergaard, the Mets’ top pitching prospect, sprinted to cover home. The runner on third had taken off. They met at the plate, and as Syndergaard went to apply the tag, he tumbled onto his left shoulder. He was removed from the game.

Syndergaard had X-rays taken after the game and again on Friday, along with a CT scan. No significant damage was found, and he was given a diagnosis of a sprained AC joint and was told not to throw for five to seven days.

Last month, he strained a muscle near his elbow. The injury has in some cases led to Tommy John surgery, but Syndergaard was cleared after a stint on the disabled list. Thursday was his first start back for Class AAA Las Vegas.

In 11 starts this season, Syndergaard has posted a 4.47 earned run average.

INJURY UPDATES The Mets said that Dillon Gee (strained back muscle) had begun throwing on flat ground and that Eric Young Jr. (hamstring) had a setback in his recovery.

Matt Harvey, the team’s ace, who is recovering from Tommy John surgery, was originally scheduled to start throwing off a mound early next week, about seven and a half months after having the operation. But the Mets pushed the session back for precautionary reasons.